| Reference: Society's
Duke Allen |
Society's
Duke Allen
by Diane Sczepanski <northern_foundations@yahoo.com>
 Duke
was born at Confederate Hills Farm, Billy Taylor's
Winchester, Tennessee home. He left Tennessee as
a youngster and from then on he resided at Gary
Martin's Make A Horse Farm in Dighton, Massachusetts.
I first ran across Duke's photo in an old issue
of the Breeder's Guide and thought he looked like
a nice horse plus I liked his bloodlines. The
photo (at left) came from Gary Martin, Duke's former
owner.
Ever since Star Gray
lost his breeding ability, I have asked Gary if
he would consider selling Duke and the reply was
always the same - he wasn't interested in
selling. I contacted Gary in the winter of 2008-2009
once again to ask if he would consider selling or
leasing Duke. I was surprised to get a letter back
from him saying he would sell Duke. Duke arrived
at my farm toward the end of March 2009.
He had some major adjustments to make here in Wisconsin.
 Our
climate is different than Massachusetts, there was
a whole herd of mares who came into a raging heat
shortly after he arrived here and I am not
kidding when I say five mares were backed up to
his fence squatting for him in early April, which
is too early to breed here. Add to that
mess, several other stallions on this farm of 17
acres, and he was a bit high strung worrying about
those mares, hearing the other stallions whinnying
for the mares. It was doubtful for a few weeks whether
he would be able to make the adjustment of
being here at his age but he did calm down and settled
in nicely.
Duke is the son of
Paige's Echo,
whose story is quite unique.
Paige's Echo
was bred by Danny and Billy Taylor's father and was
sold to J.W. Sanders in 1967. Sanders was not a
horse person but liked the big horse and kept him
as a pet. Echo was never gelded but he never served
a registered walking mare. The opportunity came
for the Taylor brothers to acquire Echo and
return him to his home farm at 27 years of age.
In 1993, his first registered Walking Horse foal
hit the ground. The foals of Echo were attractive
horses with plenty of natural walk and people oriented
dispositions.
Society's Duke Allen is
one of Paige's
Echo's sons, tracing back to the rare
Red Eagle F-61, this non-Allen line offers genetic
diversity and hybrid vigor.
Paige's Echo's
dam, Pinky Lu, was sired by Wilson's Merry Boy GG,
blending the famed
Merry Boy line with a
full sister to Miller's Wilson Allen, one of the
nation's leading sires of flat-shod show walkers
in the late forties.
Duke's dam
was sired by
Red Bud's Rascal, Leon Oliver's
popular breeding stallion (now deceased).
Duke's sire, Paige's
Echo, had eight foundation "F"
horses on his papers. These are true Heritage Horses.
Duke has a great
disposition and loves to have the area behind his
ears scratched. Strange thing with these Echo
horses about having their ears scratched
- Star Gray is the same way! Duke traces back to
Wilson's Allen;
and on the videotape, "A Look Into
the Past", Dr. Bob Womack says
Wilson's Allen,
in his opinion, was one of the finest stallions
of all time. He sired natural, loose
moving foals. Star Gray exhibits the looseness of
gait that Wilson's
Allen was known for. I am very
thankful for the opportunity to own Duke and raise
foals by him. He has settled in well here and is
a very nice horse. I love this horse! He is a peach
to handle at breeding time and I end up breeding
mares alone so he has to behave himself and he does.
It was a huge blessing to be able to acquire this
horse and continue breeding these wonderful Echo
horses!!
In the early days of
the Walking Horse registry, a number of stallions
were considered very good sires. After the start
of the TWHNC, sons of some of these went on
to win World Championships at the early shows. From
1945-1948, Midnight Sun
and Merry Go Boy
became the first two stallions to win the WGC, drawing
the focus of many breeders. Many other stallions
were forgotten in the limelight accorded these two
black horses. One stallion that maintained a strong
court even after the big-lick became the status
rather than just a trend was the chestnut
Wilson's Allen
son, Society Man.
A big, handsome stallion,
Society Man
passed along some rare and exotic genes from his
dam, Virginia Joyce.
Society Man was the 1943
World Champion Jr. Stallion, which in 1943 was a
three year old colt that must display a solid canter
in addition to the running walk and flat-walk.
Over the years, a number of his sons were used in
the stud to perpetuate this line. His lineage continues
today through the produce of many of his daughters,
but only one grandson, a sabino stallion named Paige's
Echo, sired sons that are
actively involved in breeding programs around the
country today.
During the summer of
2003, I had some time to research
Society Man's
background. He had many pages of production records so
I started to go through them all. I was quite surprised
to find out of all the sons he produced, only ONE,
Paige's Black Boy, had sons who had sons who
are still in production today. Of the Paige's Black
Boy sons, only one son has sons who are still in
production, and that son is
Paige's Echo,
the sire of my stallion. To appreciate how rare
this bloodline is when it comes to an unbroken
line of males to carry on the Society Man name,
there are only six stallions out there in production
today, Society's Duke Allen being one of them. (he
has since passed away) |
Owned by
Northern Foundations Farm.
He is certified with the
International Heritage
Horse Association as 100% heritage.
SOCIETY'S DUKE ALLEN
TWHBEA #950701
DOB: 3/25/1995
DOD: 2018
COLOR: CHESTNUT
MARKINGS: NEAR HIND FETLOCK, STRIP, SNIP, MIXED MANE
AND TAIL.
SEX: STALLION
HEIGHT: 15.2H |
PAIGE'S ECHO
TWHBEA #659379
COLOR:
CHESTNUT
MARKINGS: BOTH HIND STOCKINGS, BOTH FORE
SOCKS, BLAZE.
 |
PAIGE'S BLACK BOY
TWHBEA #590115
COLOR: BLACK
MARKINGS: BOTH HIND AND NEAR FORE CORONETS,
STAR.
|
SOCIETY MAN
TWHBEA #400554
COLOR:
MARKINGS: STAR
|
MERRY CO-ED
TWHBEA #443712
COLOR: BAY
MARKINGS: NEAR
HIND SOCK, BLAZE. |
PINKEY LU
TWHBEA #621512
COLOR:
GREY
MARKINGS: WHITE MANE & TAIL. |
WILSON'S
MERRY BOY GG
TWHBEA #453571
COLOR: CHESTNUT
SABINO REG AS "ROAN"
MARKINGS: BOTH HIND
AND OFF FORE STOCKINGS, NEAR FORE CORONET, STRIP,
FLAX MANE AND TAIL. |
LU LU TAYLOR
TWHBEA #570334
COLOR: CHESTNUT SABINO REG AS "ROAN"
MARKINGS: FOUR STOCKINGS, BALD, FLAX MANE & TAIL.
|
RED BUD'S LADY BUG
TWHBEA #791458
COLOR: CHESTNUT
MARKINGS: NEAR HIND SOCK, BALD.
|
RED BUD'S RASCAL
TWHBEA #674900
COLOR: CHESTNUT
|
RED BUD
ALLEN
TWHBEA #380338
COLOR: CHESTNUT
MARKINGS: NEAR HIND STOCKING, BLAZE.
|
MERRY MAN'S
STARR
TWHBEA #654050
COLOR: BAY
MARKINGS:
NONE |
APRIL FLOWER T.
TWHBEA #675228
COLOR: BAY
MARKINGS: BOTH HIND SOCKS. |
DUKE OF
DEARMANVILLE
TWHBEA #602359
COLOR: BLACK
MARKINGS: OFF HIND STOCKING, NEAR HIND SOCK, ON OFF
FORE LEG, BLAZE. |
LU LU TAYLOR
TWHBEA #570334
COLOR: CHESTNUT SABINO REG AS "ROAN"
MARKINGS: FOUR STOCKINGS, BALD, FLAX MANE & TAIL.
|
|
